Costa Rica vs Ethiopia

Ethiopia is 21.6 times larger than Costa Rica. Costa Rica would fit into Ethiopia about 22 times.

Costa RicaEthiopiaCosta Rica moved onto Ethiopia · Equal-area projection
0.05×
Costa Rica is 0.05× the area of Ethiopia. Put the other way, Ethiopia is 21.6× the size of Costa Rica.
Costa RicaEthiopia
Area51,180 km²1,104,300 km²
Population5,152,950135,472,051
Density101 / km²123 / km²
CapitalSan JoseAddis Ababa
RegionCentral AmericaEastern Africa
CoastlineHas a coastLandlocked
Neighbours27

Why the map you grew up with disagrees

On a Mercator map, area grows with distance from the equator. Costa Rica sits at about 10°N and is stretched to 1.03× its true area; Ethiopia at 9° N is stretched to 1.02×. Here the two are distorted about the same amount, so Mercator gets this pair roughly right. The figure above uses the Equal Earth projection, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.

Questions about this pair

Is Costa Rica bigger than Ethiopia?
No. Costa Rica is 21.6 times smaller than Ethiopia. Costa Rica covers 51,180 km² and Ethiopia covers 1,104,300 km².
How many times does Costa Rica fit into Ethiopia?
About 22 times: Ethiopia has 21.6× the area of Costa Rica.
Why do Costa Rica and Ethiopia look different on Google Maps?
Web maps use the Mercator projection, which stretches area with distance from the equator. Costa Rica is drawn about 1.03× its true area there and Ethiopia about 1.02×. For this pair the distortion is similar, so Mercator gets the comparison roughly right. Kartavera uses Equal Earth, where every square kilometre is drawn the same size.
Which has more people, Costa Rica or Ethiopia?
Ethiopia: 135,472,051 people against 5,152,950. Density: Costa Rica 101 per km², Ethiopia 123 per km².